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NDP announces grant program to help charities deal with carbon tax

Phillips explained the new grant, entitled the Non-profit Energy Efficiency Transition (NEET) program, will support “energy efficiency audits” or “energy management plans” where non-profits will have experts tour their facilities and outline what they can do to be more efficient and save on fuel costs.

And while the province wouldn’t say how much of those retrofit costs it would fund once they’re outlined, officials did say many could qualify for funding help.

“Once these audits are complete, and the non-profits figure out what they need to do, they may qualify for further funding and rebates,” added Kirk Heuser, spokesman for the province’s Climate Change Office.

The NDP made the announcement Friday from the impressive new, high-tech facility housing the non-profit Meals on Wheels, a sustainable LEED building in the city’s southeast.

“Since we have arrived here, we’ve been able to reduce our energy costs by up to 20 per cent,” said president Jim Brown, pointing to solar panels and built-in rain barrels used to collect water for ground maintenance.

What other non profits have to say....

But other non-profits who haven’t enjoyed the luxuries of a new building are wary of whether an audit will provide any new information, and whether they could even afford them if they don’t qualify for full funding.

“We’ve already done this, a lot of non-profits have done this, because they’re doing annual assessments all the time to see how they can cut costs,” said Calgary Food Bank CEO James McAra.

“But how many non-profits don’t own their own assets,” he added, explaining that many landlords may not be willing to have an audit and purchase retrofits to reduce costs.

McAra argued the more important concern among non-profits is the uncertainty around the NDP’s carbon tax and how it will affect everyone’s bottom line.

“We’ve been worried about it for a long time. And we can’t get any detailed information as to how it will affect us,” he said.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...ith-carbon-tax